Attention

Thursday, May 23, 2019

Things seem to be moving quickly now. It has been a remarkable few weeks in American history. Momentum is building toward uncovering the distasteful possibility that the targeting of a U.S. presidential campaign was actually a political operation, fostered at the highest levels of government, masquerading as an FBI counterintelligence investigation.

Attorney General William Barr has signaled that his interest in examining the origins of the investigation into the Trump campaign extends beyond whether the FBI operated “by the book,” as former FBI Director James Comey asserts. Barr also wants to understand the role that the larger intelligence community, or IC, may have played in all of this.

Barr has thrown punches that have left an interesting mix of characters with a standing eight count. Certain eyes around D.C. are a little glassy right now.

Nine students pursuing college and graduate studies connected to careers in Delmarva’s chicken industry will receive $2,000 scholarships through the Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc. (DPI) College Scholarship Program. Eight of the recipients will attend undergraduate colleges in the fall; one graduate student was also awarded a scholarship.

“By supporting these students, DPI is investing in the next generation of leadership for our chicken community,” said Holly Porter, DPI’s executive director. “We encourage these young people to put their education and skills to use in Delmarva’s $3.4 billion chicken economy when they graduate.”

The following students will receive scholarships:

Peter Arnoldof Chestertown, Maryland, a senior at Queen Anne’s County High School who will attend Virginia Tech in the fall. Arnold intends to be a certified crop advisor; as he put it in his application, “working with farmers to grow better corn and soybeans will help Delmarva’s chicken industry by providing local, low-cost feed for our chicken producers.”

Cameron Korush Haghighat, 19 of Glenwood, Maryland, was arrested and charged after allegedly striking a police officer and another man on May 19.

Police were called to a 36th Street condominium at 9:31 p.m. because of reports of a fight. Officers found a shirtless and shouting Haghighat and another man, Farzin Fahandezsaadi attempting to calm him.

Haghighat allegedly refused police orders and pushed Fahandezsaadi in front of them. He also reportedly resisted attempts to be placed into handcuffs and was tackled by police.

Police said Haghighat appeared to be intoxicated and his “demeanor changed multiple times … from aggressively shouting insults and threats at officers, to crying and apologizing.”

Haghighat was pushed to the ground by police in order to control him. Police said he struck one officer about five times in the middle and lower portions of her body and was placed under arrest for the assault.

“Freedom and Bread” was the slogan used by Adolf Hitler during the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazi) campaign against President Paul von Hindenburg. Hitler even promised, “In the Third Reich every German girl will find a husband.”

Alabama rocked the news cycle with its near-total abortion ban signed by Gov. Kay Ivey last week, and to hear the mainstream media tell it, the law is human trafficking in disguise; it echoes communist-era Albania; and miscarriages will land women behind bars.

What none of these stories mention is the life-crippling abortion regret that thousands of women may be spared. As a woman who has experienced abortion, I’d like to share some insights about the impact that “choice” has had on me and millions of other women.

Abortion hurt me, and I am not alone.

According to afterabortion.org, women who aborted their pregnancies were 31% more likely to suffer health complications, visit doctors 80% more often than women who did not abort, and sought mental health care 180% more often.

The Democrats are like a beehive that has lost their queen -- only, in this case, the queen is not Nancy Pelosi, but Barack Obama. He alone was able to hold this fractious cuckoo's nest together. And one wonders if he could do it now.

Nevertheless, Pelosi, anxious to do her part and stave off impeachment charges she knows are electoral poison for her party, did her best to damp things down by accusing Trump of a "cover-up" when she emerged from the Democratic caucus Wednesday morning.

Talk about projection!

Was it Machiavelli who said: When they accuse you of something, they're the ones who are doing it? No, it wasn't, not exactly anyway. But no question the brilliant Florentine saw that happening on a daily basis, as we do.

Most Americans are not aware how morally and intellectually destructive American colleges—and, increasingly, high schools and even elementary schools—have become. So, they spend tens of thousands after-tax dollars to send their sons and daughters to college.

But today, to send your child to college is to play Russian roulette with their values. There is a good chance your child will return from college alienated from you, from America, from Western civilization, and from whatever expression of any Bible-based religion in which you raised your child.

If you think this is in any way an exaggeration, here is some of what has happened on campuses in recent months:

Harvard University fired law professor Ron Sullivan from his position as faculty dean of Winthrop House, a student residential hall, because he was one of Harvey Weinstein’s lawyers. (He has since resigned from the Weinstein legal team.) Some female Harvard students said they felt “unsafe” with Sullivan as a faculty dean.

A retired judge who is calling for a special prosecutor to investigate the Jussie Smollett case in Chicago filed a number of court motions Tuesday, including one that seeks to bar the Cook County state’s attorney from using public lawyers in the legal fight.

Sheila O’Brien, who wants an independent counsel to investigate why charges against the “Empire” actor were dropped, also called for her case to be heard by a judge outside of Cook County in the filings, according to local reports.

“Tax supported attorneys are to do the business of the people — not protect the State’s Attorney in disobeying the law,” O’Brien wrote in her filing to knock public lawyers off State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s legal team in her suit for a special prosecutor, the Chicago Sun Times reported.

Attorney General William Barr said that his handling of the Mueller report and its aftermath is rooted in a desire to defend the power of the executive branch rather than personal support for President Trump.

"I felt the rules were being changed to hurt Trump, and I thought it was damaging for the presidency over the long haul," Barr told The Wall Street Journal in El Salvador in an interview published Monday, where he traveled last week to boost support for Trump's policies toward the violent street gang MS-13.

"At every grave juncture the presidency has done what it is supposed to do, which is to provide leadership and direction," Barr added. "If you destroy the presidency and make it an errand boy for Congress, we’re going to be a much weaker and more divided nation."

Two illegal alien members of the violent MS-13 gang have been charged with the murder of a 14-year-old girl in Maryland after previously being released from custody by a 'sanctuary city.'

Last week, illegal alien MS-13 gang members Josue Rafael Fuentes-Ponce, 16-years-old, and Joel Ernesto Escobar, 17-years-old, were charged with first-degree murder — along with 14-year-old Cynthia Hernandez-Nucamendi — in the death of 14-year-old Ariana Funes-Diaz in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

According to police, the two illegal alien MS-13 gang members and Hernandez-Nucamendi met the 14-year-old victim at an apartment complex before taking her into a wooded area nearby. In the wooded area, police say the three beat the girl with a baseball bat and stabbed her to death with a machete.

Now, the three have been charged with murdering Funes-Diaz.

Last year, Fuentes-Ponce and Escobar were released from custody by Prince George’s County officials after being charged with attempted first-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, participation in gang activity, conspiracy to commit murder, and attempted robbery.

At the time, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency had requested that the two illegal alien gang members not be released back into the community and instead be turned over to their custody for deportation.

Prince George’s County, a sanctuary city, released the illegal aliens anyway, and they were never able to be arrested or deported by ICE.

While speaking with CNN on Tuesday, House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) stated that he is “getting there” on supporting an impeachment inquiry.

Cummings said, “I think what the president has done has put us in a position where we cannot get any information to do the oversight that we need to do, and that basically ties our hands and makes us, with regard to oversight, powerless. The question now becomes, what do we do? Do we allow this to continue? And where do we end up if we do that? That’s the question, and I’m still mulling it over. I’m going to talk to my colleagues when I get on the floor in a few minutes. But I’m getting there.”

Mark Terris Oxendine, 30 of Willards, faces more than 20 years in prison l for allegedly attempting to sell heroin in Ocean City.

According to a police report, officers were called at 6:59 p.m. on May 18 to check on the welfare of a man, later identified as Oxendine, who had passed out in a Ford Mustang parked near a 125th Street business.

Police found the man with a plastic bag containing many capsules filled with a white substance. Oxendine was apparently trying to conceal the bag from police.

The arresting officer recognized the substance as heroin, which Oxendine later confirmed. Police said Oxendine also had traces of the substance on his clothing.

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Baltimore Police were dispatched to four different shootings in a three minute time frame Wednesday night. All four happened between 10:41 p.m. and 10:44 p.m.

At 10:41 p.m. officers responded to the 2300 block of East Hoffman Street for a report of a shooting. They found evidence of a shooting but did not locate any victims.

Police said they were then told that two men had walked into a hospital suffering graze wounds. The men were 50 and 54 years old. They told investigators they were sitting in a vehicle when a gunman began shooting, injuring them.

While this was this was happening, police were dispatched to the 2300 block of East Preston Street, also at 10:41 p.m., after receiving a Shot Spotter alert for gunfire.

Newark, MD, May 22, 2019–At today’s Worcester County Board of Education meeting, several administrative appointments were approved, and administrative transfers were announced. The new assignments are effective July 1, 2019.

Headlining the changes is the Board of Education’s vote to appoint Ms. Denise Shorts the next Assistant Superintendent/Chief Academic Officer, following the resignation of Dr. John Quinn. Shorts is a 32-year veteran educator in Worcester County Public Schools. Most recently, she has served as Coordinator of Title I and Literacy, and prior to that, served as principal at Buckingham Elementary and Snow Hill Elementary schools.

The Board also approved newcomer Ms. Nicole Selby as the school system’s next Coordinator of Student, Family, and Community Connections. With 19 years of service to the youth of Worcester County, Selby most recently served as Case Management Specialist Supervisor for Worcester County’s division of Maryland’s Department of Juvenile Services.

Several administrative transfers were also announced at today’s meeting. First, current Buckingham Elementary School principal Ms. Karen Marx will move to lead Snow Hill Elementary School. Marx brings 16 years of elementary school leadership to her new position.

Snow Hill Elementary School’s current principal Dr. Mary Anne Cooper will transition into the same role at Snow Hill Middle School. Cooper has a long history at the middle school. Cooper served as an Assistant Principal there for four years, and she began teaching in Worcester County at the school in 1998.

Helming Buckingham Elementary School will be current Snow Hill Middle School principal Dr. Christina Welch, who has over 20 years of experience at the elementary level prior to transitioning into school leadership in 2009.

Stephen Decatur High School Counselor Mr. DeShon Purnell was appointed to become Assistant Principal at Buckingham Elementary School.

Snow Hill Middle School Assistant Principal Ms. Jane Chisholm will transfer to Ocean City Elementary School, a position that was left vacant following the April 16, 2019, appointment of Ms. Julie Smith to lead the school as principal.

“These changes are another step in the right direction for Worcester County,” said Superintendent of Schools Lou Taylor. “We have such a talented group of educational leaders here. I am confident that each of these promotions and transfers will lead to greater educational opportunities for our students. I congratulate them all, and I thank them for continuing to bring their best to these new roles.”

I had heard grumblings about the downsides to storm chasing for a long time - poor driving habits, traffic jams as cars converge near violent storms, and the dangers of rogue chasers and hobbyists. It had always been on my mind, but four years of venturing to the Plains had taught me it was just something I'd have to live with. I always brushed it off as an unavoidable byproduct of chasing.

But Monday was different. I witnessed firsthand the practices that will drive me away from the sport I once loved with my entire being. The past week of storm chasing has been eye-opening. In just seven days, I've encountered:

--Multiple chasers with red/blue police lights "pulling over" others to clear their path to the storm; in 70 mph winds and egg-sized hail and less than a mile from a tornado, this could have been deadly

--Traffic jams 200 cars deep

--Chasers parking on/in the road to take pictures, blocking traffic

--Chasers barreling down a one-lane road at 90 mph

--Chasers driving on the wrong side of the road

The dangers speak for themselves.

There's a reason why my biggest fear about storm chasing isn't weather-related; it's not the softball-sized hail, it's not hurricane-force winds, and it's not even lightning or the tornado. It's other chasers. On Monday, when a large tornado passed by Mangum, Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported just one injury, not from wind but "involving two vehicles with storm chasers."

The perils have been manifest before. Three storm chasers were killed in an accident in Texas on March 28, 2017, when a pair of Weather Channel contractors blew through a stop sign at 70 mph. In 2013, veteran storm chaser Tim Samaras fell victim to a tornado near El Reno, Oklahoma; his son Paul and chase partner Carl Young also perished. A Weather Channel vehicle was tossed 200 yards, breaking the driver's neck. Scores of other chasers cheated death that day.

But so far, the storm chase community has been incredibly lucky. On its current track, storm chasing is a ticking time bomb. More here

The Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), which works to elect Democrats to the House of Representatives, disbursed millions of its funds to Hillary Clinton's "resistance" group since late December 2017, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

The DCCC made the millions in payments to Onward Together, a non-profit founded by Clinton following her loss to President Donald Trump, for its email lists. The payments from the DCCC to Onward Together began in December 2017. Since that time, the committee reported 25 transactions to Clinton's group totaling slightly more than $3 million, the filings show. The most recent payments from the DCCC to the committee were made in February.

In addition to the DCCC, the Democrat National Committee pushed $1.65 million to Clinton's group throughout 2018. The payments from the DNC, which were marked primarily as list acquisitions with one payment going towards direct mail, stopped in late October of last year.

Clinton launched Onward Together to allow her to be a "part of the resistance" against Trump and Republicans following the 2016 elections.

Our company has provided jobs and opportunities in Maryland for more than 44 years. Today, we operate a manufacturing facility in Federalsburg and distribution centers in Hampstead and Havre de Grace employing more than 700 hard-working Marylanders.

Aside from providing good manufacturing jobs for our employees, here in the USA, and contributing to the state and local tax base, we proudly help to keep the community clean by volunteering for roadside cleanups around our facilities. We are Dart Container Corp., a family-owned manufacturer of a broad range of plastic, paper and compostable to-go containers.

Now Gov. Larry Hogan has legislation on his desk that would hurt our business and the businesses of many mom-and-pop stores, small restaurants and the citizens of Maryland.

The bill, if signed into law, would prohibit the sale of one of Dart’s main products, polystyrene foam — PS foam, which is used to make to-go products such as plates, cups, bowls and containers.

(BELCAMP, MD) – A Harford County man was arrested today after a Maryland State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigation developed evidence supporting charges of possession of child pornography.

The suspect is identified as Sandeep Patel, 29, of Belcamp, Maryland. He is charged with eight counts of possession of child pornography. Patel was arrested at his residence without incident and taken to the Maryland State Police Bel Air Barrack for processing.

In February 2019, Detectives from the Baltimore County Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force began an online investigation involving the possession of child pornography. Detectives discovered a person online actively pursuing the receipt of child pornography files. Further investigations led to the identification of the suspect and his residence in Harford County.

In April 2019, the case was transferred to an investigator assigned to the Maryland State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, Jimmy Pitaro, the new president of ESPN, tacitly acknowledged that the sports network made a mistake over the past few years when it allowed commentators to express their political opinions on air. He also admitted what many sports fans have long expressed: “Without question our data tells us our fans do not want us to cover politics.” You don’t say. He went on to say, “My job is to provide clarity. I really believe that some of our talent was confused on what was expected of them. If you fast-forward to today, I don’t believe they are confused.”

The data does indeed support Pitaro’s conclusion. Following ESPN’s hard-left political push for everything “social justice,” the sports network saw its viewership numbers tank. Since 2011, the network has lost an estimated 15 million subscribers — bleeding that accelerated as ESPN anchors regularly smeared President Donald Trump as a racist while embracing Colin Kaepernick’s insulting national anthem kneeling protests.

Democrat congressional leaders held a press conference on Tuesday in which they sided with Iran in an increasingly tense standoff that has pitted the hardline Islamic regime against the Trump administration as it seeks to thwart Tehran's regional terror operations.

Sen. Richard Durbin (D., Ill.) and other top Democrats lashed out at the Trump administration over its efforts to isolate the Iranian regime, claiming in talking points that mirror those from Iranian leadership that President Donald Trump and his national security team are "itching for a confrontation with Iran."

The Democrats, who have sought to obstruct the administration since it pulled out of the the Obama administration's signature foreign policy achievement, the Iran nuclear deal, have sought to stake out a foreign policy that sides with Tehran in the ongoing dispute, which has seen the Islamic Republic sponsor a series of terror attacks in the Middle East, including against American military assets.

Rep. Jim Jordan on Wednesday accused his Democrat colleagues in the House of plotting a "coordinated effort to take down the president" and believes they are already working in concert behind the scenes to impeach Donald Trump.

"I don't think the Democrats can help themselves," he said on "America's Newsroom." "Remember, after all, on the very first day of Congress they introduced articles of impeachment... I think they've been determined to get here and I think they've already started. They just haven't formally stated that's what they're up to."

Jordan, R-Ohio, told Fox News there's little, if anything, the Republicans can do to appease Democrats and hold off an avalanche of inquiries targeting Trump.

"This is the Democrats," he added. "So much focus on taking down the president and not any type of focus on doing what's best for the country. I think this is where they are going to go so I don't know what we can do to satisfy that. They are bound and determined to do things we've never seen before."

Michael Avenatti, the attorney who rocketed to fame through his representation of porn star Stormy Daniels in her battles with President Trump, was charged Wednesday with ripping her off. Federal prosecutors in New York City said Avenatti used a doctored document to divert about $300,000 that Daniels was supposed to get from a book deal, then used the money for personal and business expenses. Prosecutors said only half of the money was paid back.

Daniels isn't named in the court filing, but the details of the case, including the date her book was released, make it clear that she is the client involved.

In a statement to CBS News, Avenatti maintained his innocence, saying "no monies relating to Ms. Daniels were ever misappropriated or mishandled." "She received millions of dollars worth of legal services and we spent huge sums in expenses. She directly paid only $100.00 for all that she received," the statement said.

We no longer live in a constitutional republic. We live in an idiocracy.

Only in modern-day America, under the Democrat-controlled U.S. House of Representatives, is the basic proposition that federally subsidized public housing should benefit American citizens and legal residents slammed as “despicable” and “damaging.”

Those are the hysterical words used by Democrat Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York City to condemn the proposal discussed by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson on Tuesday to ban government aid to residents of the agency who shelter illegal immigrants.

The rule change would end a Clinton-era regulation that allowed immigrants to obtain aid without having to disclose whether they were here legally. The Trump plan could free up an estimated 32,000 public housing slots, according to the department, as 1.6 million applicants nationwide wait to be considered.

Democrat Rep. Juan Vargas of San Diego County couldn’t believe Carson could be so “mean-spirited” in prioritizing law-abiding people over law-breaking ones.

Pennsylvania State Rep. Fred Keller won the Pennsylvania House 12th district special election, according to the New York Times.

Keller defeated Democrat and professor at Penn State University Marc Friedenberg in a special election Tuesday. The congressional seat became vacant after former Rep. Tom Marino (R-PA), who easily beat Friedenberg in the 2018 midterm elections, resigned less than one month into this term.

The Pennsylvania Republican’s victory serves President Donald Trump as well. Trump held a rally in Pennsylvania on Monday.

Ahead of the election, Trump said he endorsed Keller and contended that the election would serve as a referendum on his presidential administration.

“Go get em, Fred,” Trump told Keller on Monday. “It’s a little bit of a referendum.” President Trump then said that if Keller wins the special election, the media will not widely report the story; however, if Keller loses the election, Trump said that they will play it up as one of the biggest political events in recent memory.More

In his essay, Dr. Hern is reacting to the new Alabama law that significantly limits abortions in that state, suggesting that what legislators are restricting is a lifesaving procedure.

“Alabama’s new law claims that it does not prohibit abortion if there is a ‘reasonable medical judgment’ that the pregnancy poses a ‘serious health risk’ to the woman,” Hern notes. “But pregnancy itself poses a ‘serious health risk’ — including the risk of dying and losing all bodily functions.”

(BERLIN, MD) – Investigators from the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit have a suspect in custody while actively investigating the murder of a teenage boy in Worcester County.

The victim is identified as Dehaven Nichols, 17, of Berlin, Maryland. Nichols was pronounced deceased by EMS personnel in a wooded area behind an apartment complex in Berlin. His body has been transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore for an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death.

The accused is identified as Vershawn Hudson-Crawford, 16, of Berlin. After consultation with the Worcester County State’s Attorney, Hudson-Crawford was charged as an adult with first and second degree murder, along with other related charges. He is currently awaiting an appearance before a court commissioner in Worcester County.

Around 6:15 p.m. yesterday, Vershawn Hudson-Crawford along with his mother and grandmother went to the Berlin Police Department. Upon their arrival, the mother informed police that her son, Vershawn, had been involved in a fight. During the conversation, police learned of the victim’s location and were immediately dispatched to the area where they located Nichols unresponsive.

The preliminary investigation indicates the two teenage boys were involved in an altercation behind an apartment complex off of Route 113 in Berlin. A motive has not yet been determined.

The Maryland State Police Homicide Unit was requested to respond and take the lead on this investigation. Additional assistance is being provided by the Maryland State Police Criminal Enforcement Division Lower Shore, troopers from the Berlin Barrack, the Worcester County Bureau of Investigation, as well as detectives, officers and deputies from the Berlin Police Department and Worcester County Sheriff’s Office. State Police crime scene technicians processed the scene.

Investigators have been interviewing witnesses and residents in the area. Crime scene evidence has been transported to the State Police Forensic Sciences Division crime laboratory for analysis.

Anyone with information about this murder is urged to contact Maryland State Police at the Berlin Barrack at 410-641-3101. Callers may remain anonymous.

A Manhattan federal judge has denied a bid by President Donald Trump and his companies to block congressional subpoenas on two banks to obtain years worth of financial records.

The ruling Wednesday by District Judge Edgardo Ramos in Manhattan federal court to deny injunctions on Deutsche Bank and Capital One, which have done business with Trump and his businesses, and which received subpoenas from two House of Representatives committees, is the latest setback for efforts by Trump lawyers to prevent exposure of his financial records.

The ruling comes just days after a federal judge in Washington, DC, found that Trump can’t stop Mazars, Trump’s accounting firm, from complying with another congressional subpoena for Trump’s financial records. His lawyers are appealing that ruling.

For Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee, Ben Carson’s unfamiliarity with certain abbreviations is nothing to LOL about.

The lawmakers, perhaps in coordination or perhaps by chance, used a committee hearing Tuesday to repeatedly grill the secretary of Housing and Urban Development on the meaning of obscure acronyms -- and then mocked him for not knowing.

“I’d also like for you to get back to me – if you don’t mind – to explain the disparity in REO rates. Do you know what an REO is?” California Democrat Rep. Katie Porter asked.

Carson responded, "OREO?"

“No, not an Oreo. An REO,” Porter shot back, explaining she was asking about real-estate owned properties.

Shortly afterward, her office captured the exchange for Twitter posterity.

“I asked @SecretaryCarson about REOs - a basic term related to foreclosure - at a hearing today,” she tweeted. “He thought I was referring to a chocolate sandwich cookie. No, really.”

Yet this wasn’t the only instance Tuesday where Carson was quizzed on his agency lexicon. At another point, Ohio Rep. Joyce Beatty asked Carson to discuss “OMWI.”

A 25 percent tariff on all imported goods from China would create more than 720,000 American jobs by 2024, a new study finds.

The United States would undergo a nationwide reshoring-jobs effort if it imposed a tariff on all Chinese imports, the latest study from Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) researchers Jeff Ferry and Steven Byers finds.

Ferry and Byers’ study reveals that an across-the-board 25 percent tariff on every good imported to the U.S. from China would “deliver a significant, sustained boost to the US economy” by creating 721,000 American jobs and adding $125 billion to the nation’s GDP by 2024.

“Our model demonstrates that across-the-board US tariffs on Chinese imports stimulate the US economy, increase US production and jobs, and lead to a reduction in US import costs over time,” Ferry said.